Cellular (“wireless”) communications networks rely on a network of antennas for connecting cellular devices, such as cellular telephones, to the wireless network. To insure that the cellular communications network has continuous coverage over a geographic area, the antennas structures are widely dispersed throughout the region. Some antennas structures must be mounted to a mast, tower, or pole that is free standing, while other antennas structures may be mounted to a mast that is attached to a side of building or similar structure. In addition, it is sometimes necessary to increase the height of the antenna due to the construction of new structures, or to add additional antennas to an existing structure. Currently, cellular antenna tower can be connected to support structures, such as masts or buildings using conventional mounting brackets that are well known in the art.
Additionally, it may also be necessary to use mounting brackets to mount electrical components to existing antennas structures. A antenna tower today may have antennas, tower mounted low noise amplifiers (TMAs), tower mounted power amplifiers, repeaters, backhaul systems, point-to-point communication systems, and/or antenna control electronics mounted along or near the top of the structure, for example In addition, it may be desirable to provide lightning protection to a cellular antenna or other tower mounted electronics system, as in many instances it will be the tallest structure in the immediate area and susceptible to nearby or direct lightning strikes. The effectiveness of the lightning protection circuit may warrant mounting close to the cellular antenna and also mounting the device on or near the base of the antenna to protect the antenna electronics circuitry. In addition, it may be more effective protection and economical for protection designs involving layers of lightning protection circuitry by having a local externally mounted protection circuit serving multiple antennas and supplementing the individual internal antenna electrical components. The protection circuitry in the unit design may be deemed marginal or insufficient for the degree of reliability desired for sites with difficult access and supplemental lighting protection in an external module may be desired. In each of these situations, the electrical component is placed in a housing and/or attached to the antenna or the antenna support structure using a conventional mounting bracket.
Conventional mounting brackets have several limitations. Since the cellular antennas can be attached to either a cylindrical mast or a planar surface the mounting brackets have been tailored to match the type of structure. For instance, if an antenna is being mounted to a cylindrical surface, such as a mast or a pole, the antenna would include a specially designed mounting bracket that has a curved surface, which mates the antenna to a cylindrical structure. Similarly, if the antenna must be mounted on a planar surface, such as a side of a building or other similar structure, a separate mounting bracket that is specially designed for use with planar surfaces must be used to attach the antenna to the planar structure. This requires cellular providers to purchase and store a variety of mounting brackets. Since cellular providers maintain hundreds of cellular support structures, the cost of purchasing several different brackets is very expensive in both time and capital expenditure, as cellular providers must constantly monitor their inventories of the different brackets to insure they do not run out of, or have an excess surplus of, any particular type of bracket.
Therefore, there is a continuing need for an inexpensive, universal mounting assembly that can be used for installation on a variety of mounting structures, such as a curved structure or a planar structure. In particular, there is a need for a universal mounting assembly that contains a first mounting bracket that can be adapted to be attached to a cylindrical surface and also contains a second mounting bracket that allows the universal mounting assembly to be attached to a planar surface.